Emma had known the moment that Tommy entered Café Diem. Hell the moment she saw him through the window her heart began to race making it rather hard to finish her tale. The year apart had done little to change his appearance, well except for the uniform. He was tall, over six feet with skin the same golden brown it had always been. His dark curly hair still kept in its short style. The only thing missing was his smile. That boyish grin of his that would light up his dark brown eyes and make her heart stop.

Instead he looked, well he looked sad. That surprised her. She'd known Tommy all her life and he was always the happy upbeat one in their little group. Guess he didn't bounce back as quickly as she thought he would.

The laughter around her faded a little and she was brought back to the reality around her. Vincent had now handed her a topped off cup of coffee. "Thank you Vincent, and this is for you." She picked up one of the boxes she had brought in with her. "Its pictures and chemical analysis on all the yummy things I ate on my journeys. And spices from all over the world, some pretty rare ones too."

"Thank you." Vincent wrapped his in one of his big bear hugs. "We are so glad you are back sweetie. Are you staying for good this time?"

Emma hated to disappoint any of her family, especially Vincent. "Honestly I haven't made up my mind yet. I have quite a few tempting offers right now." Her eyes darted to where Tommy, he was now talking quietly with her mom. "I mean Eureka will always be home…"

"Here sign this" Uncle Doug said as he pushed a data pad into her hand. Wow, she thought as she read the information. It detailed a generous salary, her own lab and requisition for housing and military security clearance. "I'm not signing this…I mean it's a generous offer but not really something I've earned yet. I don't trade on being a legacy Uncle Doug. You know that."

She handed the data pad back over but her dad intercepted. "Holy crap Fargo you sure do know how to bribe someone." Zane handed the pad over to Jo. She

Fargo shrugged. "its not a bribe and it's not because you're a legacy." He looked sincerely at her knowing how hard it was living up to a family name, good or bad. "You are one of the most brilliant up and coming mathematicians in the world. I mean a Fields Medal at you age? Global would be damn lucky to snag you."

Emma tossed him a grin. "I don't have a Fields Medal…yet. But I was serious when I said I had few things in the fire. And yes this offer…" She waved a hand at the data pad. "Will go to the top of the pile for consideration, promise."

Fargo pushed his glasses back up his nose. "That's all I ask." He gave her another hug. "I really am glad to see you. And the job offer is legit."

The next few minutes were filled with multiple people filing past her hugging her. Each excited that she was back and she was just as excited to see all of them again. It would be that much harder to leave again, if she chose not to return. Jenna had whispered that they needed to meet later privately, girl talk, you know.

One person had not approached her though. In fact he simply sat with his arms crossed trying not to look as if he wasn't staring at her. Fine, it's not like she wanted to have a conversation with him in public surrounded by their parents. Hell if they never spoke again she wasn't sure she'd mind. This was entirely his fault anyway. The last year hadn't been so bad. She was lying to herself and she knew it.

She had missed him. More than she had missed anyone in this town. Right now she simply wanted to run into his arms...

Mentally she sighed. Making sure her smile was still full intact and turned her attention back to her friends and family.


Ok so when his dad had said there was a surprise waiting for him, this was not anywhere close to what he had imagined. Maybe another one of his mom's attempts to set him up with another 'nice girl'.

In his dad's mind Emma's visit would of course be a welcome surprise. They had been best friends since before he could remember. And if he hadn't spent the past year trying to keep her off his mind this might have just been a good idea. His parents were great. They were just trying to snap him out of his funk and it had started to work. But now with her here... back to square one.

Instead of feeling better, he had to sit here watching as she ignored him. Watch her laugh. Watch her hug everyone in town and tell them how much she missed them. When all he wanted was to have her say those words to him and to tell her that… God, that he missed her too.

He barely heard anything anyone said. He hardly registered the way his dad and Jo were casting him covert looks and their quiet conversation. But he was lost in her smile, lost in her laugh. Damn the time apart had done nothing to change how he felt about her.

Suddenly his older brother Kevin rushed in. Kevin rushed over and pulled Emma off her feet and into a hug. When he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, Emma blushed

Anger began to boil in Tommy's veins and his breathing became rapid and shallow. Kevin was way too old for her and she was... his. The blood rushing through his ears he barely heard what Kevin said next.

"So good to see to you Em. Did you tell them yet?" He put her down and wrapped an arm around her waist. Emma had inherited her dad's height and even though Kevin was well over six foot tall, she was only a few inches shorter.

"I was waiting for you to get here before I filled them in." She wrapped an arm around his waist as well.

Tommy found himself on his feet about to step forward when someone grabbed his arm.

"It's not what you're thinking." Jenna hissed in his ear.

"And how do you know what I'm thinking." He whispered back.

His big sister shrugged. "Just trust me. It's not what you're thinking so sit down before you cause a scene. Well a bigger scene, in front of the parents." She pulled him back down onto the stool.

Emma didn't appear to have noticed the commotion and continued to make her announcement. "Well I told you guys I had a bunch of job offers and one of them is pretty big"

The knot in his chest loosened slightly. Ok so this was about a job. She wasn't dating his brother. That was really a stupid idea.

"So what's the job?" Some one asked.

Kevin was rocking on his heels with excitement.

"I was selected for NASA's deep space exploration crew." Excitement filled her as she spoke the words.

"Wow" Holly said. "That's a two year mission and a huge honor to be chosen. Congratulations."

All he heard was deep space and two years. How could she? Before anyone could stop him, Tommy crossed the room and grabbed Emma's arm. "We need to talk, Now" He pulled her free of Kevin's grasp and toward the door.

She wretched her arm trying to pull free. "What do you think you are doing?" She hissed.

"Going some place we can talk in private. Without prying eyes or ears." He inclined his head in the direction of their dads.

"Fine, but let go of me."

Tommy let go of her arm and moved his hand to the small of her back. Leading her back across the street to the Sheriff's Office.

Back inside Café Diem Jack, Allison, Zane and Jo watched the pair cross the street.

"Well I think we know which girl broke Tommy's heart." Jack said rubbing the back of his neck. "Not what I was expecting."

"And I have a pretty good idea of what kept Emma out of Eureka." Jo added quietly

Behind them Jenna laughed "And you guys don't even know the half of it yet."